Buffett Changes Tone on Bank of America

"When a company grows and outstanding shares shrink, good things happen for shareholders", Buffett said.

This was addressed in Mr Buffett's letter, where he writes: "For decades, Jack has urged investors to invest in ultra-low-cost index funds".

Buffett says if retailers like the Berkshire Hathaway-owned Nebraska Furniture Mart has to pay more taxes on imports, that will increase the price consumers pay.

The Berkshire chief also railed against Wall Street's culture of charging high fees on investment products, in particular hedge funds - a subject that frequently attracts Buffett's ire. "It complicates life for us", Buffett said.

Though the railroad has been hurt by falling coal and industrial volumes, Buffett said society "will forever need huge investments" in transportation, and BNSF is well-served by a strong balance sheet, recent capital upgrades, and a growing emphasis on clean technology.

When Berkshire first announced that it had bought Apple shares in May 2016, the stock climbed 3.7 percent.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) have been on a tear in 2017.

The Apple investment appears to reflect much of the $12 billion of stock that Buffett said he had bought between the November 8 Presidential election and the end of January.

Share repurchases have become increasingly popular over the last five years, bringing into debate the merits of them. Then in 2015, Heinz struck a deal to buy Kraft Foods for about $40 billion in cash and stock. Even though Buffett won't discuss what he might buy, Smead said he could have talked more about what he doesn't like in the market today.

While the long-time Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton a year ago said he'd be unlikely to vote for Trump, but he said mixing investments and politics is a mistake. But there would remain a difference: "The lucky monkey would not find people standing in line to invest with him". Maybe that's why he's one of the most successful investors in history. People familiar with the matter have previously said that Weschler, 55, studied up on the airline industry previous year after seeing a presentation from American's CEO Doug Parker, who argued that consolidation had ended the boom-and-bust cycle that had plagued his company and competitors for decades.